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Citadel "The Cit"
"When the first Thessianauts boarded the gigantic station we now know today as the Citadel, they found a celestial platform larger than they could imagine, bereft of life, sign, or indication of who owned it or why they were gone." - Basic Citadel History Course The Citadel is a super-massive construct, similar in shape to a pentagram. It consists of three central rings 7.2 kilometers in diameter, from which five arms protrude, each 43.6 km long and 330m thick. It is the home of the Council of Law, the superseding authority of Citadel Space, as well as the Chamber of Governance, the overall legal authority of Citadel Space and over the various species' governments throughout the Galaxy. To date, there are almost thirty different species of varying authorities and populations aboard the Citadel, many of them with Embassies. Pre-Citadel Era While each species holds its own histories of pre-spaceflight as well as space exploration dear, it is generally eclipsed by the discovery of the Citadel. The first recorded beings to rediscover the long lost superstructure was the TSV Hespera, a Thessian Exploration Space Vessel utilizing Element Zero and the most rudimentary understanding of the 'phase gate' Mass Relay Network. Thessinaut Commander Dalanasa T’mori is credited to being the first sapient to step foot upon the Citadel, discovering a pristine yet empty space station of staggering proportions, larger than any Asarikin colony at that time (700 BCE). Within a decade, the space station became the most well-known expeditionary site as Asarikin traveled to the station to explore, collect data, and colonize. Approximately within eight years of the discovery, Asari had first contact upon the Citadel with another intelligent humanoid lifeform; the Salarians. For decades, the Citadel was used as the hub of interspecies relations and cooperation, to protect each their own while fostering upon the hopes of learning from one another. Decades passed as relations cemented towards mutuality, and the Citadel became a 'shared' colony, as it was more than big enough to house colonization efforts from both species. In less than a century, they were joined by another intelligent lifeform; the Volus. By this time, it was speculated that a full quarter of the station had been explored, while only a marginal percentage had been colonized when the Irunians discovered the Citadel on their own. Fostering towards relations, the Volus were allowed equal status and rights to colonize the Citadel, allowed to adapt their buildings to their particular environment as many began to wonder if there was more intelligent life out in the barely-explored galaxy. The Citadel Council was created from this idea. The Citadel Era (1 CE) While there was a governing body to manage the thriving colonies aboard the Citadel, the discovery and integration of the Volus gave members of all three species the hope of the possibility of more intelligent, possibly spacefaring species in the galaxy. A committee was created and convened together to lay out the groundwork towards the effort for galactic exploration, first contact protocols, prime directives upon settlement and discovery, and the first multigovernment fleet in existence. By 150 CE (approximately 350 BCE on the Terran Gregorian Calender), a total of six species were involved in the Citadel, obeying its tennets and living in its structure. The planetary governments of the Asari, Salarians, Volus, Elcor, Hanar, and Vurron had established trade agreements with the Citadel, using it as a focal point for negotiations and as a buffer from recourse. The sapients living on the station itself worked together, hosting multispecies businesses and endeavors, trading amongst one another as a multiethnic culture thrived amongst the populous. Though there were tensions at some periods of time, none of the species' governments warred with one another as the Citadel began to rise as its own jurisdiction, centered politically and culturally in the minds of those who lived in it. The burgenoning government would be tested around 500 CE (0 CE TGC) with the discovery of a seventh race; the Rachni. The Swarm (483 CE) While it was a Salarian Science Exploration Vessel that opened the Suen Relay and discovered Rachni Space, the fault could have been laid at everyone's feet; none suspected opening up a floodgate to a nightmare.